All I wanted for Christmas was my home back in the Rockaways … yes, the same Rockaways that was washed away by Hurricane Sandy a few weeks ago. But now, I think I have found something that I want more …

According to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, there are kids in Malawi who sit for hours on the ground — on a ground made of dust, a ground made of wood, or a ground made of cold, hard, unapologetic concrete — just to get an education. Major shortages in classroom space and furnishings have forced these children to undergo intense discomfort while attending school. He makes heartening plea for some of us — any of us — to make a gift of a desk for these kids, desks which would mean more to these children than just about anything we could ever give them.

Who could think that some pieces of wood and steel pipes could give to these kids more than we ever could … Well, a desk can give a child a sense of direction, a sense of worth, a sense of pride in learning, a place to sit while learning, a table on which to write the work they learn in school. Just as important, or even more so, a place to which they can eagerly return, day after day to educate themselves, and change their lives for the better, through their own effort and by their own hand.

This is what I want for Christmas … someone — anyone — to help make a dream come true, for these kids.